Sewer plant error closes shellfish beds

Word has spread that 100,000 gallons of “improperly disinfected treated plant effluent” from the Plymouth sewer system was mistakenly pumped into the ocean, resulting in closed shellfish beds in Plymouth, Kingston and the southern tip of Duxbury, a loss of income for local aquaculture entrepreneurs and some serious finger-pointing on Lincoln Street, Wicked Local Plymouth reported.

For now, most of the fingers are pointing in the direction of Veolia, the contractor that designed, built and now operates Plymouth’s sewer system.

This is the second time in the last few months that effluent has been released into the ocean before it had been fully treated. The first time, town officials said, it was a mechanical failure. This time, it was human error.

Regardless of who or what is to blame, however, town officials said it couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

Director of Marine and Environmental Affairs David Gould told the Old Colony that he doesn’t want to overly dramatize the effects of this latest human error, but he would definitely characterize it as “frustrating.”

“We’ve been making a special effort to establish a shellfish culture here, to open up recreational shellfishing and increase access to our waterfront, and this certainly doesn’t help our cause,” Gould said Tuesday.

The town has only been offering aquaculture permits for the last two years, in hope of emulating the success of shellfishing businesses like Duxbury’s Island Creek. There is now a long waiting list of individuals seeking those permits.

That wait just got longer.

Town Manager Melissa Arrighi admitted to being angry, as well as frustrated.

In addition to the human error that resulted in the release of untreated sewerage directly into the ocean, Arrighi acknowledged that Veolia failed to properly notify all of the stakeholders when the problem occurred.

The discharge took place Friday, April 19, but even the Division of Marine Fisheries was not aware of the problem until three days later.

Veolia reportedly sent emails that Friday, but did not follow up with phone calls to state and local officials, as is required.

That resulted in some potentially contaminated shellfish being harvested over that weekend, in preparation for sale.

Fortunately, none of those shellfish were ever taken to market.

“I suppose it could have been worse, but that’s no comfort,” Arrighi said this week. “I am disgusted by the notion that any improperly treated effluent was released into local waters. It’s just unacceptable.

“We’ve been working so hard to get those areas open, done so many good things, and now this discharge happens. Its just super frustrating,” she added.

When the town got word of the second improper discharge this year, Arrighi said that an invitation was sent to Veolia, inviting the company to explain what happened in public session before the Board of Selectmen.

But as the Old Colony was speaking with the town manager Tuesday a note was placed on her desk saying that Veolia had “declined to appear.”

Arrighi said the town isn’t just playing the blame game, and hasn’t been sitting back with its fingers crossed hoping nothing bad happens. Instead, she said, Plymouth has been taking a proactive approach to its municipal sewer system.

The town has, among other things, implemented a SCADA system (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) – a computer controlled system that monitors and controls industrial processes including wastewater collection and treatment.

When fully operational, the system should be able to recognize when, through human error or mechanical malfunction, a batch of sewerage has been improperly treated and is about to be released and prevent its release.

There will be times, though, when peak flows require that discharges be made from the system, regardless of the treatment status of the effluent. In that case, the town hopes the SCADA system can divert those discharges into its infiltration beds.

The town is permitted to use either ocean discharge of fully treated effluent or infiltration beds, which use natural processes on the effluent before allowing it to flow through the Eel River watershed.

But, recently, the sewer system operators have not used the infiltration beds out of concern for the watershed. Faced with a choice of discharging improperly treated effluent into the ocean, and risking further contamination of local shellfish beds and possible beach closures, the infiltration beds may be the preferred option.

Meanwhile, Veolia and the town are involved in a mediation process to, Arrighi said, “try and clear up contractual issues that have been going on for years.”

And the shellfishing businesses located in the affected areas are simply on hold. In time the shellfish themselves will help clean up the water and, if testing by the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries verifies the absence of contaminants, they will be back open for business.

Provided, of course, there are no more accidental discharges into the ocean.

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